“When I walk onto one of our state veterans cemeteries, it fills me with pride, knowing that we are not going to let our warriors be forgotten. We provide them with their ‘final formation.’ How we do it, with dignity and respect, preserves our freedom,” stated Tony Dale, executive secretary of the Texas Veterans Land Board (VLB).  

Dale was speaking with the Monitor, because soon, East Texas will have its own state veterans cemetery. He explained that if the procedural steps continue as expected, the East Texas Veterans Cemetery could be open as soon as the fall of 2026.

The cemetery is planned for a 64-acre rectangular holding just southeast of Hallsville in Harrison County. It is located near the intersection of the IH-20 service road and Farm-to-Market Road 968. The land is gently rolling, a cleared pasture with mature trees lining the property. 

Soon that picturesque wood-lined pasture will be East Texas’ own final formation. 

Texas operates four state veterans cemeteries: Abilene, Corpus Christi, Killeen and Mission. A fifth, Lubbock, will officially open in December. 

One of the charters of the Veterans Land Board is to ensure access by veterans and their families to the benefits that they have sacrificed for. That includes access to a veterans cemetery.

The board uses a 75-mile radius circle to define the area associated with the state veterans cemeteries and the four national cemeteries in Texas – Dallas-Fort Worth, El Paso, Houston and San Antonio. 

A large swath of East Texas, where 32,000 veterans are domiciled, is uncovered. Addressing this gap in coverage is quite a process, with a number of bureaucratic requirements to be met. It all starts, however, with land.

The East Texas Veterans Cemetery will be a one-of-a-kind, as it will be the only state cemetery on land gifted by a single family.  

Debra Christian, of Tyler, is a stalwart of the veterans support community. Any day might find her advocating for veterans at the highest levels of state government or driving a veteran to a local clinic. The Christian family also has a long history of service to the nation which continues in the present generation.  

When she became aware of the need for a veterans cemetery in East Texas, she never hesitated but began all the actions required to gift a parcel of the family’s holdings to the state for that purpose. The act of donating the land is in the final legal steps.

Christian worked closely with Dr. John Kelley, director of the State Veteran Cemetery Program, in every step of the process. She was also not alone. In January a group of advocates from East Texas presented a petition containing 4,500 signatures of East Texans to the Veterans Land Board petitioning for a state cemetery.  

Willingness only gets an initiative so far. There are bureaucratic steps to any process. 

The legal process behind establishing a new state veterans cemetery starts with the Texas State Cemetery Committee. It is composed of members from the Texas Veterans Commission and the Texas Land Board. Committee approval is the legal act which gives a project life.

Once authorized to proceed, the Texas Veteran Land Board takes over. The initial steps include conduct of an environmental assessment of the proposed site. The assessment is complete and satisfactory for the Hallsville location.

Surveying, a conceptual layout and an initial design followed. At this stage the VLB applied to the Veterans Administration for a construction grant. The VA fully funds all veterans cemeteries, while the Texas VLB manages all construction and operation.

Dale described the way forward, “We, the VLB, apply for an initial grant for Phase I of the construction. It includes 30 acres of cemetery, columbaria, a committal shelter, an administrative and maintenance building and a scattering garden.” The initial grant is the establishment grant. 

He continued, “Over the first year or so of operation we monitor pre-registration, use and original design and prepare an application for an expansion grant. That application is prioritized based on usage rates.”

Dale reassured that the “decks were clear” to proceed with grant application for the East Texas Veterans Cemetery. As with most endeavors, this initiative required a spark (Debra Christian and the local petitioners) and persistence (the Texas VLB) in negotiating the bureaucratic wickets. 

The executive secretary left no doubt, “Ms. Christian was the key to the whole thing.”

The cemetery will be tended by up to a dozen employees. The design features, attention-to-detail and incorporation of service symbology in the cemetery will make it a peaceful, contemplative and reassuring place of honor. 

Dale, a U.S. Army veteran, shared, “Visiting a state veterans cemetery is an overwhelming experience.”

Very soon, due to the efforts of many people, East Texas veterans will have their own place of honor.

“I am proud of the significant progress the Texas General Land Office and the Veterans Land Board have made to bring a cemetery for our nation’s heroes to East Texas,” said Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham. “As we move closer to this goal, I look forward to continuing to work with the East Texas Coalition and other Veterans organizations to ensure East Texas Veterans and their families can access every benefit of VLB’s beautiful cemeteries.”